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Waverly completed a season sweep of Elmira Notre Dame on Friday night, scoring all of its goals in the final 20 minutes of a 3-0 victory that moved the Wolverines within one win of the Interscholastic Athletic Conference South Large School title.

Cassandra Bowman netted the first goal with 18 minutes, 44 seconds to play. Kayla Kromelbein added two scores in the final 12:19 to help put the game away.

Waverly is now 11-0 overall and 8-0 in conference action, with two IAC games left. The Wolverines have clinched at least a tie for the division and can win it outright at home Tuesday against Newark Valley.

Notre Dame dropped to 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the IAC. The Crusaders' other league loss came by a 1-0 score at Waverly on Sept. 13. Last year, Notre Dame beat Waverly on penalty kicks in a division tiebreaker after the teams split their regular-season games.

"I thought we fought really hard. I really did," said Steve Weber, who is co-coach of Notre Dame along with his son, Kevin. "I’m proud of the way they played tonight."

Bowman breaks the ice

In Waverly's earlier win over Notre Dame, Kromelbein scored the lone goal about eight minutes into the second half. The first half of the rematch was also scoreless, though Wolverines coach Tara Hogan said she was happy to see her players start the game with energy and excitement.

"(In the first half) we came out finally the way we've been coming out in the second half," she said. "I think (the ball) was in the middle of the field more often than anywhere else (in the first half). Neither goalie was seeing a lot of action."

After withstanding two strong scoring chances from Notre Dame, Waverly took the lead on a long blast from Bowman that went over the head of Crusaders goalie Taylor Gray and into the upper-left corner of the net. Gray finished with seven saves, including a sliding stop on a one-on-one chance, but this was the type of shot few goalies, if any, would have stopped.

Hogan later told Bowman it was like watching in slow motion as the bending shot made its way into the net.

"She’s notorious for that. She’s got great crosses for the same exact reason," Hogan said. "I know one of her other goals this season was well outside the 20. I don’t even know if she planned on it when she first got the ball, to go for the shot, but she did. It was awesome."

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Crossbar drama

Kromelbein beat Notre Dame with her 50th varsity goal in the first meeting. She delivered another crushing blow Friday with a blast that hit the crossbar and bounced over the goal line for a 2-0 lead with 12:19 to play. Kromelbein scored again with 2:29 remaining, off a long cross from Elle Nittinger that just eluded Gray.

Earlier in the second half, with the game still scoreless, Notre Dame standout Laurel Vargas delivered an impressive blast of her own that hit the crossbar. It was ruled this one didn't cross the goal line, though Steve Weber said Vargas thought otherwise.

"That's a tough call for anybody to see," he said. "The pros have electronic technology to do that stuff, so for an official out here, that's tough. We couldn't tell if it (crossed the goal line) or not. She felt it did."

The Crusaders' Ellie Mustico also had a golden chance to score the game's first goal, but her shot bounced off a Waverly defender after it slipped past Wolverines goalie Zoe Mennig.

"If either one of them goes in, it doesn’t mean we would have won, but we could have tactically done some stuff at that point and given us a lot more confidence," Steve Weber said.

Wolverines dominant

Waverly has allowed just three goals this season, including the two shutouts of a potent Notre Dame team that entered the night ranked third in the state in Class C by the New York State Sportswriters Association. The Wolverines, ranked 12th in the state in Class B, finished with a 15-6 shot advantage Friday and a 6-0 edge on corner kicks.

Largely that type of season-long dominance comes down to keeping the ball away from the other team.

"The girls’ possession is phenomenal," Hogan said. "When we have the ball, we’re really good at keeping it under pressure. When challenged against teams like this, this is what we need to remind ourselves of what we’re going to be up against in the postseason. But it’s all because of their possession; their skill with understanding where players are supposed to be, understanding how each other’s speed is going to play into it."

Hogan also pointed out her team is very intelligent. Part of it comes from the experience factor.

"They’ve got so many kids who’ve played together for such a long period of time," Steve Weber said. "They all started together young. They had a young team several years ago and they’ve stayed together and they’ve worked really hard. They’re what we’d expect they'd be like at this point. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anybody that they’re doing this well."

ND still has title hopes

Steve Weber wished Hogan's team good luck in the IAC Large School championship game and sectionals. Notre Dame will set its sights on capturing a third consecutive Section 4 Class C title after playing road games against Watkins Glen and Newark Valley next week.

"I still think we’re improving as a team," Steve Weber said. "As long as I feel that, I always feel we have an opportunity come sectional time. They’re working hard every game, they’re showing a lot of energy."